Show text of john W davis speech of acceptance clarksburg CLARKS BURG W va aug 11 them and severed my connections following is the text of john W with the honorable gentlemen Rent lemen who davis speech accepting the demo were my professional partners cratic nomination tor for the party only client air chairmen and Al members embers ot of the committee you will under understand with little explanation on my part the feelings which have led me to fix our meeting at this spot in the hills of 0 west virginia these aru the hills that cradled me and to wl which 1 ich as boy and man I 1 lifted up my ey eyes es for help in this soil rest four generations of my people arti tradesmen farmers and a sprinkling of the professions laborers all who played in in simple fashion their appointed appoint cd parts in the life of this community among them now lie those who gave me life and to whose high precept and example I 1 owe all that I 1 have ever be been en and all that I 1 can hope to be these w witnesses t who surround us are the companions of my youth and manhood with them most ot of my days have been spent and when circumstances have called me elsewhere they have followed me with a regard and affection that has laid on me a debt of gratitude greater than I 1 can repay twenty five live years ago they first called me to their service as their representative in the legislature of this state and since that day in public office or in private life I 1 havu have fought with them unceasingly the battle tor for democratic ideals and democratic principles of their own free will and motion they presented my name to the democratic convention as one deserving of its consideration better belter than all others they will know whether what I 1 shall say to you today Is if in keeping with the convictions I 1 have expressed and the action I 1 have taken in the past and more than any others they will resent anything I 1 may say or do that their confidence misplaced it is in the presence of these hills these graves these witnesses that I 1 wish to hear your and anil rive your and anil rive message give you my reply A weighty lity commission you come to give me official notice that I 1 have been chosen by the democratic party as its nominee tor for the highest office in the gift of the american people you invite me to take the reins of 0 leadership and marshal its hosts tor for the coming campaign no weightier commission could be laid on any man he must be vain indeed who does not feel his own unaided strength inadequate to such a task and he must be ambitious beyond reason whom thought of tame fame tir or honor tempts to undertake it without the fullest sympathy with his party and its alms aims I 1 reflect however ho Never that you are the representatives of millions of americans who are dissatisfied with existing conditions who long tor for the day when america will set her face to the front again and aho vho iio are ready to follow 1 wherever the forward march begins and I 1 have read your platform and its declarations of party principle and find them such as I 1 can heartily approve for these things I 1 thank god and take courage makes no apology I 1 take note mr chairman in passing of what you were good enough to say concerning my past career and conduct as a lawyer I 1 have no apology to offer for either the answer to any criticism on that coie must come not only from those who like yourself have won OL the highest distinction at the bar but also from the more than other honest and patriotic men and women who make up the legal profession ot of this country they know and they wilt will gladly join you in testifying that the upright lawyer sells his services but never his soul A word ot of personal history in this connection bo wever may not lie be out of place when I 1 was advised ot of the purpose of president wilson to appoint rue me to the high office of solicitor general my first act was to surrender all private employment and to sever my connection with the law firm of which I 1 was then a member and of which my revered father was the head from that day until my duties as ambassador to great britain were ended eight years later I 1 had no other client or employer than the government and the people of the united states whether I 1 served them well or faithfully riot not 1 I but others must say As soon as the convention over which you so ably presided in my behalf I 1 realized that I 1 was called upon to repeat my former action within the week therefore there toro I 1 signified to all my clients that I 1 could no longer serve I 1 I 1 have no clients today but the democratic party and it if they will it so the people af pf of the united states abany many and grave arc the problems of 0 the hour and all the resources i of patriotism and statesmanship at our command will be taxed in their solution the allied forces of greed and dishonesty of self seeking and partisanship of prejudice and ignorance threaten today as they have rarely done before the perpetuity of our national ideals traditions and institutions men are looking askance at one another are mistrusting one another are doubting each the others good will and honesty of purpose the solidarity of the great war has given way to a chaos of 0 blocs and sections and classes and interests each striving for its 0 own w a advantage careless of the welfare belfa re of the whole government itself itsel f to which the humblest citizen has the right to turn with confident reliance in its evenhanded justice has fallen under the prevalent distrust no longcr trusted there is abroad in the land a feeling too general to be ignored too deep seated for any trifling that men in office can no longer be trusted to keep faith with those who sent them there and that the powers of government are being exercised in the pursuit of personal gain instead of the common service out of this and because of it there has developed an alarming tendency to take the administration of the law out ot of the hands of constituted officials and to execute its processes through individuals or through organized societies by methods little different from those of 0 private revenge A situation so threatening to the very foundations of the th social order demands boldness in facing the causes which have brought it about and tireless exertion exertion in in the me effort to 10 remove exertion in me tiem them to bring the government back to the people is and always has teen been the doctrine of democracy today in addition it is the supreme need of the hour to bring back to the people confidence in their government ern ment the search search for the causes of this state of affairs leads us at once to the history of the last four years in 1920 we passed through a political campaign in which materialism was preached as a creed and selfishness as a national duty all the forces of discontent were marshaled and the embers of every smoldering hate were fanned into burning flame we have eaten of the fruit of the tree that was planted and it has been bitter in the mouths of even the most indifferent I 1 speak with restraint when I 1 say pay that it has brought forth corruption in high places favoritism in legislation division and discord in party councils impotence in government and a hot struggle tor for profit and advantage which has bewildered us at home and humiliated us abroad for all these things the party now in power cannot escape the responsibility that is its due no repentance at the eleventh hour and no promise of reform can cancel halt half a line of the indisputable facts the time demands plain speaking it is not a welcome task to recount the multiplied scandals ot of these mel inchody years a senator ot of the onsted states stales convicted of corrupt practice in tho the purchase of his senatorial seat a secretary of the interior in return tor for bribes g ranting granting away the naval oil reserves so necessary essa ry to the security of 0 th tho 0 country I 1 a secretary of t ie navy ignorant of 0 the spoliation in progress it if not continued on page 2 |